Mr Rogers watched in awe as the funnel-shaped wind tunnel sucked up tree branches and bushes sending their leaves showering through the air.

He said: "I looked over and thought 'what's that?'. It started spinning and I realised it was a tornado.

"The trees were spinning with their branches in the air. It was a bit scary and a real shock, but very exciting.

"I drove back the same way a while later and all the trees had been stripped bare, it must have been pretty powerful.

"I have always wanted to see a tornado, I was even thinking of going to America to do it, I can't believe it actually happened in Cornwall."

Met Office spokesman Barry Gromett confirmed that it was a tornado and said: "It is difficult to see whether this has actually touched down to the ground, but the potential is definitely there.

"This is still a long way from the really big ones seen in the States, though."

Scroll down for more...

Terrified pensioners were also evacuated from an East Sussex nursing home that went up in flames during storms.

It is thought a lightning bolt hit the large home, setting the roof and part of the second floor on fire.

More than 30 fire crews rushed to Moorhurst Nursing Home in Westfield, near Hastings, just before 8pm last night to tackle the blaze.

A spokesman for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said everyone was evacuated safely from the home.

earthquake.

Scroll down for more...

In Shropshire exceptionally heavy rain has shut down large sections of the historic steam railway in the Severn Valley.

Two-thirds of the Severn Valley Railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire were closed when two weeks' worth of rain fell in 45 minutes, causing landslides which blocked sections of track.

In some places, embankments were washed away completely, leaving the rails suspended in mid-air.

Scroll down for more...

John Leach, the railway's marketing manager, said the impact of the flooding was not yet clear but said it was going to be days before they could reopen the line to Bridgnorth.

"We've had flooding before, but never anything on this scale. The noise of the rain last night was phenomenal," Mr Leach said.

"I live on top of a hill nearby and could see it all, there were three storms that came together, and I could see three separate forks of lightning hit the ground at once."

West Midlands Ambulance Service said its crews had reported floodwaters rising to the height of car doors in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire area last night.

One ambulance crew in Worcestershire was unable to reach a man stranded in his home after finding that a bridge had been completely submerged.

Paramedic Andy Lightbody and his colleague Rachel Rose, who are based in Kidderminster, were also thwarted by a landslide as they tried to reach the man, whose house was thought to be in danger of collapse in Shrawley.

Mr Lightbody said: "We were travelling along the A451 to Astley, but it was flooded and we diverted down a B road to gain access.

"Unfortunately, we then encountered a landslide blocking the lane and had to reverse back.

"When we got as far as Glazen Bridge, the bridge itself was completely underwater, with one of the parapets broken off.

"We had to stop there and wait for an update from the fire and rescue service, who had managed to reach the stranded man on the other side of the river."

The crew were, however, able to reach a second patient, who had suffered lacerations to his feet while wading through floodwater after a brook burst its banks.

In Somerset campers are already arriving at a boggy Glastonbury Festival site.

With the weather due to remain unsettled there will be fears of a repeat of the 2005 festival when rain battered the event, turning the site into a muddy swamp, which in turn caused hundreds of festival-goers to suffer from trenchfoot.

Scroll down for more...

Met Office forecaster Chris Almond said: "For the rest of the week it will be showery and unsettled and this will continue through the weekend."